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A CONVICTED sex offender was caught using a camera hidden in a gym bag to spy on women and children while they changed in an Oxted leisure centre.

Darren Pocknell, 39, was jailed for 18 months at Guildford Crown Court on Friday (October 14) after a female pool-user spotted him positioning the concealed camera under the cubicle wall from an adjacent cubicle in the unisex changing room and raised the alarm.

The former builder was arrested on May 25 at Tandridge Leisure Centre on Hoskins Road and a search of his possessions revealed 98 indecent pictures and 71 videos of women and children in changing rooms on two cameras, two 'spy pen' cameras, a camcorder, a laptop and an iPod.

The married father also had 9,618 pornographic images of children ranging from category one to category five - the most graphic - and 60 videos ranging from category one to category four stored on a laptop, an iPod and other computer equipment.

At an earlier hearing in August he pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism and breaching the terms of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) dating back to 2006.

Jill Beale, prosecuting, told the court that not all the pictures and videos were from the same changing rooms and it was not clear how many other centres Pocknell may have used to target his unwitting victims.

She said: "It didn't all happen on the same day and we do not know where some of the videos were filmed but it may have been at other leisure centres.

"He went to Tandridge Leisure Centre in Oxted on May 25 and a lady noticed he was watching the children by the pool and noticed his hair was dry and he didn't appear to have been swimming at all.

"Later she heard someone shout then heard a dragging sound from a neighbouring cubicle.

"It transpires the defendant had been watching a woman. He had positioned a sports bag with a hole cut for the camera in the gap between the cubicles."

'Fully apologetic'

Judge Christopher Critchlow, sitting at Guildford Crown Court, heard that Pocknell was already the subject of a SOPO after pleading guilty to 32 counts of making and possessing indecent images at Maidstone Crown Court in 2006.

Ray Barnett, for Pocknell, told the court his client had voluntarily entered a course in an attempt to rehabilitate himself in which he was mentored by a judge.

"That seemed to fizzle out in a short space of time and he has not had any guidance for some time," Mr Barnett added.

"This means he has fallen back on his own resources which, it would seem, are inadequate."

Mr Barnett stressed that his client was trying to get his life back on track and re-start his building business but his wife had already initiated divorce proceedings against him.

He added: "There are no aggravating features in terms of circulating the images and it would seem to fall into the lowest category of this offence which would attract a community order."

Judge Critchlow accepted that Pocknell was "now fully apologetic" for his crimes but was not persuaded not to issue an immediate custodial sentence and gave him 12 months for the voyeurism charge with a further six months for breaching his SOPO.

He said: "You have deliberately prepared a bag with a hole cut into which a camera lens could be inserted into in order to film families and children while they changed."

Pocknell, formerly of Marsh Green Road in Edenbridge, Kent has been imprisoned at HMP High Down since his arrest in May.